How do we speak trauma? We know from medicine that people embody trauma, beyond words. It shows up in our hearts and our blood pressure, our dreams and our nightmares; we pass it onto our children,...
Fashion
10 things I’ve learned in my year of no new clothes
For an entire year, I have not bought new clothes, driven by evidence of the harm the fast fashion industry does to the environment and the people who work in it. This was a big deal for me: I’ve...
Country Road invests R100 000 prize money in Twyg Changemaker Award
Putting their money behind sustainable fashion in South Africa, Country Road is sponsoring the Twyg Sustainable Fashion Awards and a R100 000 cash prize for the winner of the Changemaker category....
Four Black South African fashion designers take centre stage, on the world stage
Take a moment. We've recently experienced one of the most blatant expressions of white supremacy on global television in recent history. At the same time, we've seen four Black South African fashion...
Q&A: Ezokhetho designer, Mpumelelo Dhlamini cuts to cut down waste
Mpumelelo Dhlamini was born with creativity flowing through his veins. Growing up surrounded by hard-working, fashionable women, this creativity was nurtured, cultivated, and has culminated into his...
VANKLAN is marrying creativity with conservation
Alex van Heerden, a 22-year-old fashion and textile design student, has caught the industry's attention. Alex’s fashion journey began later than most. Fresh out school, she was set to follow her...
Fashion brands Lukhanyo Mdingi and REIGN step into the global market
Two South African brands, REIGN and Lukhanyo Mdingi, recently completed an accelerator programme with the Ethical Fashion Initiative. As part of a cohort of six hand-picked African fashion brands...
Kate Sekules: “Mending is a rebellion against the status quo”
New York-based visible mender, Kate Sekules, writes that decorative repair encompasses "a rebellion against the fashion status quo, a refusal to dress correctly, and thus a refusal to further line...
4 Ethical underwear brands made in South Africa
Spring has sprung and for many it means a closet clean-out. When it comes to curating a conscious closet, underwear can be tricky. While your old drawers can be darned and mended, these items are...
Q&A: Denzel Vilakazi launched NESU as an expression of being African
South African designer Denzel Vilakazi studied Fashion Design at the Tshwane University of Technology. After placing second at the Sansui Summer Cup in Gauteng in 2017, the Edcon Group pulled him...
Exhibition of wearable art sews together parallel stories of Settler history
The opening of the Cuttings 1820 - 2020 exhibition, a tribute to South African women and their histories, is a fitting closing to Women's Month. The symbolically-charged collaborative exhibition by...
Q&A: Cynthia Otiyo-Abila upcyles old jeans into funky, new ones
"Waste isn't waste until we waste it," says American rapper Will.I.Am. This sentiment is exactly what has inspired Cynthia Otiyo-Abila's new side project called ‘TRANSFORMATION DECLOTHED’. The...
Q&A: Ditiro Mashigo follows her dreams and grounds them in nature
Fashion and textile designer Ditiro Mashigo has a quiet confidence. Born in the Limpopo town of Lebowakgomo, Ditiro moved to Pretoria in 1994 where she graduated from the Tshwane University of...
Study reveals real value of South African fashion designers. Be pleasantly surprised
South Africa’s fashion designers, many of whom follow slow fashion principles, contributed at least R1 billion to GDP last year. They also show great potential to help rejuvenate manufacturing and...
Q&A: Jeanius Platform on becoming an artivist during lockdown
Langa-based designer and photographer Anele Cephus Nono launched his denim brand, Jeanius Platform, as a social movement in 2016. With friends, he started it to raise awareness about student issues...